Making a New Countryside : Health Policies and Practices in European History ca. 1860-1950

Astri Andresen

ISBN 10: 3631596537 / ISBN 13: 9783631596531

Published by Peter Lang, 2010

About this Item

Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - How and why did 'the rural' emerge as a medico-political problem, and how was this issue addressed in different parts of Europe This book investigates how rural environments became associated with particularised concepts of sickness and health, and how such views changed over time. Responses, in the form of successful and failed attempts to make a 'new' countryside, are analysed at local, regional and national levels - to some extent also involving international dimensions - covering sanitary and social campaigns, legislation and regulation, as well as the establishment and functioning of health services. The volume demonstrates the ambiguous position of rural society in European culture and politics. 'The rural' represented the good, clean, and unspoilt; yet it was perceived as backwards, uncivilised, and on the margins of 'the modern'. This volume shows how medical science and medical practitioners contributed both to the ambiguity of 'the rural' and to the 'civilisation' of country-dwellers, and additionally demonstrates the strong political and cultural positions held by rural populations in some of the countries.

Seller Inventory # 9783631596531

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Making a New Countryside : Health Policies and Practices in European History ca. 1860-1950
• Publisher: Peter Lang
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3631596537
• ISBN 13: 9783631596531
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 210W x 148H x 15D millimeters 210 millimeters width by 148 millimeters height by 15 millimeters depth
• Weight: 370 grams

About this title

Synopsis

How and why did ‘the rural’ emerge as a medico-political problem, and how was this issue addressed in different parts of Europe? This book investigates how rural environments became associated with particularised concepts of sickness and health, and how such views changed over time. Responses, in the form of successful and failed attempts to make a ‘new’ countryside, are analysed at local, regional and national levels – to some extent also involving international dimensions – covering sanitary and social campaigns, legislation and regulation, as well as the establishment and functioning of health services. The volume demonstrates the ambiguous position of rural society in European culture and politics. ‘The rural’ represented the good, clean, and unspoilt; yet it was perceived as backwards, uncivilised, and on the margins of ‘the modern’. This volume shows how medical science and medical practitioners contributed both to the ambiguity of ‘the rural’ and to the ‘civilisation’ of country-dwellers, and additionally demonstrates the strong political and cultural positions held by rural populations in some of the countries.

About the Author

The Editors: Astri Andresen is Professor of History at the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion at the University of Bergen (Norway).
Josep L. Barona is Professor of the History of Science and Head of the Department of the History of Science and Documentation at Universidad de Valencia (Spain).
Steven Cherry is Reader in the History of Medicine, School of History at the University of East Anglia, Norwich (UK).